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According to him, given the effort that was put into getting the 20-year-old to play for the national team, he deserved to be treated better.
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“We’ve all heard how difficult it was for the FA to approach Afena-Gyan and persuade him,” the player’s uncle told Kumasi-based Pure FM, as quoted by 3sports.
“We also know Mourinho’s intention to shape the boy and why he wasn’t ready to play for the national team at the time, but the authorities did everything they could to entice him into the team.
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“And, as everyone can attest, his performance was excellent [against Nigeria]. However, if you are a coach who isn’t good at dealing with issues in the locker room, the team will always have issues.”
Last week, reports emerged that Afena-Gyan had rejected a call-up for the important two-legged U23 AFCON qualifiers against Algeria.
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The Cremonese forward is said to have rejected the invite despite the Ghana Football Association sending all travel requirements to his club.
Despite his absence, the Black Meteors went on to beat Algeria 2-1 on aggregate to book their place at the U23 AFCON to be staged in Morocco in June.
Ibrahim Tanko’s side drew 1-1 with their North African opponents away before finishing the job in Kumasi, thanks to a 1-0 victory.
Further reports suggested the young striker turned down the call-up as a response to being dropped from the Black Stars squad that faced Angola in a double-header 2023 AFCON qualifier.
However, his uncle insists things should’ve been explained to Afena-Gyan even if the coach wasn’t going to invite him to the senior team.
“Even if you wouldn’t give him an invite, you should go and explain things to him to psyche him up based on whatever you promised him to convince him. Assuring him of future call-ups, for example.
“Meeting his parents and agent to speak with him would be more beneficial than simply selecting your players and ignoring him, giving the impression that he can choose to play or not, and you don’t care,” he added.